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NEW DELHI: The terrorists struck Mumbai at 9.30 pm. CM Vilasrao Deshmukh was in Kerala . He was reached and briefed about the attacks on prime locations of the city. By the time Deshmukh had grasped the enormity of the situation, 90 minutes had gone by.

He called up Union home minister Shivraj Patil at 11 pm and asked for NSG commandos. ���How many men?������ Patil asked. ���Two hundred,������ said the CM. Patil called up NSG chief J K Datta and told him to send 200 men to Mumbai.

Most of the NSG men had to be roused from their sleep. They slipped on their uniforms, strapped on safety gear, collected ammo and firearms. It was realised that the plane that could carry 200 men, the IL-76 , was not in Delhi but Chandigarh. Precious minutes were ticking by.

The IL-76 pilot was woken up, the plane refuelled . It reached Delhi at 2 am. By the time the plane took off, four-and-a-half hours had gone by since the attack. Experts say unless counteraction starts within 30 minutes of an attack, the attackers can take up key defence positions.

It took the aircraft almost three hours before it touched down at Mumbai airport. The IL-76 , unlike a Boeing or Airbus, is a slow plane. By the time the NSG commandos came out and got into waiting buses, it was 5.25 am.

The buses took another 40 minutes to reach the designated place in south Mumbai where the commandos were briefed, divided into groups and sent out on their mission. By the time, they started their operation, it was 7 amnine-and-a-half hours after the terror strike.

Many lives might have been saved if this delay had not taken place. The obvious question is why is the NSG stationed only in Delhi? When Indian cities are vulnerable to terror attacks, why is there no commando force like the NSG, or units of the NSG, in every city?